No Adjectives do Justice to Tawang!

Tawang Diary 5

No Adjectives can do Justice to Tawang!

Tawang War Memorial 

I had shared with you (last week) about our visit to Bum La pass. During our descent to Tawang, we were mostly quiet. We did not stop at Joginder Singh gurudwara on the way back because of the high pile of snow covering its entrance, nor did the driver stop to have army chai ka langar (free tea). 

The driver, sensing the heavy mood inside the vehicle and in an effort to lighten it, insisted that we visit Sangetsar Tso on the way. Tso means lake in Tibetan. The lake was a grassland till 1971 when an earthquake changed it into a water body.

Sadly though, people’s fascination for renaming has worked here too and some have started calling it ‘Madhuri’ lake after film star Madhuri Dixit shot a song here for her film ‘Koyla’. The tall trunks of trees stand in the water, giving it a unique character and birds flock here. You can have hot momos, chhole-bhature, spicy maggi, tea and coffee in the army canteen by the side of the lake.

Sangetsar lake

We came back to the hotel but there was one more homage we had to pay to our warriors of 1962. So, in the evening, we went to watch the 6.30 p.m. light and sound show at Tawang War Memorial auditorium. The pictures on the screen brought alive the combat which had ripped the north east apart with its cruelty.  Please bear in mind that during those times there were no good roads, modes of transport or weaponry, and the soldiers did not have access to modern-day medical facilities, food or clothes.

Built like a Buddhist shrine, the war memorial has relics, prayer wheel and flags besides Tibetan motifs of serpents and dragons. Here too several flags are hoisted. 'Their names liveth for evermore' says the dedication plaque at the memorial, a tribute to the 2,420 armymen who made the supreme sacrifice in Kameng district during the war. There is a museum which has on display photographs and belongings of the martyrs, photographs related to the war, besides several precious maps. Photography here is of course, forbidden. 

We had been travelling for five days, so our plan was to take the next day easy and visit important local sites. That we did, but first we had to change our hotel because there was no water there. Arunachal has regular power cuts. It happened every night, but hidden under our quilts, we were not aware of it. The power cuts had not been much problem so far, but this hotel owner did not care to invest in a water pump, making things difficult for the staff and the customers. 

Prayer Hall at the Monastery

After the change, we went to the Tawang Monastery or Tawang Ganden Namgyal Lhatse. Legend is that in the 17th century Merak Lama, a monk came to Tawang and built a ‘fortress’ here (now Tawang Monastery), to protect the monks of the Gelugpa sect.

This one is said to be the biggest Buddhist monastery in India. In 1959, the present Dalai Lama had spent a few days here after he fled Tibet. It is only about two km from the city and not very high, so does not need much effort from most people to reach.  

Ja se jangal (J for Jungle) Hindi class
 going on at the monastery

The monastery looks like a cluster of buildings around a main prayer hall. The three-storeyed prayer hall has an imposing 26-ft high brass statue of Lord Buddha. Besides a huge hamper of chocolates, scores of other offerings including cartons of fruit juice and lassi, were lined along the glass case housing idols, to the left and thangkas (prayer flags) were hanging from a rope. It was around 12.30 p.m. and perhaps not prayer or meditation time, so I was deprived of soaking in the atmosphere so familiar of Buddhist monasteries- burning fragrant incense and butter lamps, and the chanting monks. The museum too, was closed. 

Shakyamuni Buddha statue 

The day was bright and sunny, so the offerings of grains and halwa were being dried in the sun. They would be fed to the cows, said a Buddhist visitor who had come to say his prayers.

We then went to see the statue of Shakyamuni Buddha near the Circuit House. The 8-metre-tall statue was consecrated in 2015 by H.E. Thegtse Rinpoche.

Behind the idol, a free kitchen - Buddha ki rasoi (Buddha’s kitchen), was serving dal, rice, vegetable, pickle and sweet black tea to a crowd of young men. We were told that the army was recruiting 600 porters, and these applicants had stopped for a free meal.

Ugyenling Temple board (left), prayer wheel (right)

From there we went outside Tawang to visit the Ugyenling temple, said to be the birthplace of Tsanyang Ghatso, the sixth Dalai Lama. But it was deserted, dry leaves filled the courtyard and it looked as if there were no caretakers.

It was a Tuesday, so the market in Tawang was closed and the goods in the craft store, though handmade, seemed a little expensive.

Our evening was spent indoors talking about our experiences because it had started to rain, a feature occurring in the hills almost every afternoon.

 Our stay in Tawang over, the next morning, we started our journey back to Guwahati via Bomdila.

En route this nearly 175 km journey, we took a detour to visit Jang Falls, also called Nuranang or Bong Bong Falls. Originating from the slopes of Sela Pass, the Nuranang river falls into Tawang river after the fall. Local people say the river takes its name from Nura, one of the girls who had helped Rifleman Jaswant Singh.

Jang Falls in all its magnificence!

People say Nura and Sela were the two young Monpa (one of the more than 15 tribes of Arunachal) sisters, who had been bringing Jaswant Singh (Jaswant Garh martyr) food, helped him set up guns and in firing from different places to give the impression of several men firing at the enemy for 72 hours. It is believed that Nura was captured by the Chinese but Sela jumped off the mountain to escape a similar end.

You can see the fall even from the parking area. But reaching close, I realized that the discomfort of climbing down those grassy, uneven, unplanned steps, was worth the effort. It was only about 10 a.m. and the volume of visitors to the falls was growing.

The breathtaking 100 metres high fall, once again makes you feel puny in front of the magnificence of nature you see in Arunachal. The spray of the falling water drenches you several metres away. A small hydel plant near the base of the fall generates electricity to fulfil local needs.

Yak - Left: In Tawang Right: Near the border post, Bumla

Even if the war violated it, nature has not been miserly in bestowing its blessings on Tawang. Added to that, the sight of the peaceful monks moving about in their maroon robes and the presence of armymen in their olive green or fatigues, Tawang leaves an indelible impression on the mind.

Driving another few hours to reach Bomdila, we saw scores of labourers busy in road construction and repair work. We only stopped on the way to have chai with snow cookies and buy apples.

Corridor of trees, Tawang 

Most of the areas in Arunachal are landslide-prone and all along, road workers can be seen clearing out debris of falling stones. 

It was late afternoon when we reached Bomdila.

I fear that some of you might be tired of travelling so much with me, but bear with me, the next post would be the last one in this series.

On a parting note, let me tell you something good- we saw no beggars anywhere in Arunachal during our trip. Surprising, no?

                                      -Anupama S Mani